Device for opening or closing two doors simultaneously



HIDEKI ABE 3,372,965

DEVICE FOR OPENING OR CLOSING TWO DOORS SIMULTANEOUSLY March 12, 1968Filed Feb. l5. 1966 Fig.

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United States Patent Ofilice 3,372,965 Patented Mar. 12, 1968 JapanFiled Feb. 15, 1966, Ser. No. 527,569 Claims priority, applicationJapan, Feb. 25, 1965 (utility model), 40/1 3,298 4 Claims. (Cl. 312275)Company a corp oration of ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLUSURE A device forsimultaneously opening or closing two doors comprising first and secondadjacent doors, first and second side plates each having one endpivotally connected to a fixed frame and the other end thereof beingpivotally connected to the respective one of said doors for pivotalmotion about said frame, first and second levers each of which has oneend pivotally connected to the respective one of said doors for swingingmotion through an angle about the center of swinging motion of the leverin conjunction with the movement of the door, and means for transmittingthe turning force of one of said first and second levers to the othersaid lever in such a manner that when said one lever swings, the otherlever is caused to swing in the direction opposite to the direction inwhich said one lever swings whereby each of said levers causes one ofsaid first and second doors to move in the direction opposite to thedirection in which the other of said doors moves when one door is openedor closed.

The present invention relates to a device for opening or closing twodoors simuitaneosuly and more particularly to a device for two doorspositioned in side-by-side relation with each other in the front of astereo phonograph cabinet.

In conventional cabinets for stereo phonograph and other equipment, twodoors positioned in side-by-side relation with each other have to beseparately opened or closed. An additional disadvantage has been that,when the doors are kept open, they stick out of the cabinet, causing nosmall trouble for persons passing the front of the cabinet. Thisinvention obviates these disadvantages of cabinets of the conventionaltype.

A principal object of this invention is to provide a novel and usefuldevice for opening or closing two doors which makes it possible toreadily open or close two doors, positioned in side-by-side relationwith each other, of cabinets of stereo phonographs and other equipment.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device for opening orclosing two doors simultaneously by a single action opening or closingone of the two doors, positioned in side-by-side relation with eachother, of cabinets of stero phonograph and other equipment whichmovement automatically opens or closes the other door which is coupledto said one door.

A further object of this invention is to provide a device for opening orclosing two doors simultaneously which makes it possible to open orclose the two doors, positioned in side-by-side relation with eachother, of cabinets of stereo phonographs and other equipment by a singleaction so that the doors, when opened, may be housed inside the cabinet.

Still other objects and advantages of this invention will becomeapparent from the following description when considered in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings wherein;

FIG. 1 is a front view of a stero phonograph cabinet incorporating thedevice of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-lI of the cabinet ofFIG. 1, with the two doors thereof being closed; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2, but with the doors beingopened.

Referring to the drawings, is a stereo phonograph cabinet, 11 and 11'are two doors movably mounted in the front of said cabinet 10 in side-hy-side relation with each other. 12 and 12 are knobs provided on each ofsaid two doors respectively, 13 and 13' are speaker baille portionspositioned on both sides of the cabinet and provided with speakers 14and 14, respectively, in the front thereof. 15 and 15 are side plateseach of which has one end hinged to the outer end portion of the doors11 and 11, respectively, by hinges 16 and 16'. The other ends of saidside plates are hinged by hinges l8 and 18 to partition plates 17 and17, respectively, said partition plates 17 and 17 partitioning off thecenter portion of the cabinet from said speaker balile portions 13 and13' positioned on the outer ends of the cabinet. Levers 19 and 20 arepivotally connected to the rear surfaces of the doors 11 and 11',respectively, at points 21 and 22 which are near the adjacent ends ofthe two doors and opposite to the ends bearing hinges 16 and 16. Aconnecting rod 23 is pivotally connected at one end to the lever 19 at apoint 24 which is on the other end of said lever 19 from the door 11,and at the other end thereof to the lever 20 at a point 25 on said lever21 as is subsequently to be described in explaining the operation of thesubject device. The centers of swinging motion are 26 and 27respectively, each of which constitutes the center of swinging motion ofthe respective levers 19 and 20, the point 27 being positioned on theother end of the lever 20.

The following are examples, by way of illustration only, of preferredmodes of operating the invention disclosed herein as applied to a stereophonograph cabinet comprising a lever 19 which is 180 mm. in length,with a distance of mm. between the center of swinging motion 26 and theother end 24, a lever 20 which is mm. in length, with a distance of 38mm. between the center of swinging motion 27 and the point 25 which isconnected to a connecting rod 23, which is 266 mm. in length.

The manner of operation of the device of the construction describedhereinabove will now be described. If one grasps the knob 12' of theright door 11' and causes said door to move in the direction of arrow Xwhen the doors 11 and 11' are closed, as shown in FIG. 2, the lever 20,which is pivotally connected to the door 11 at point 22, swings aboutthe center of swinging motion 27 in the anticlockwise direction as seenin FIG. 2. The swinging motion of lever 20 causes the lever 19 to swingabout the center of swinging motion 26 in the clockwise directionthrough the agency of connecting rod 23 which is pivotally supported bylevers 19 and 20 at 24 and 25, respectively. The swinging motion oflever 19 causes, in turn, the left door 11, which is pivotally supportedby said lever 19 at 21, to move in the direction of arrow Y. It will beappreciated from the foregoing description that the subject device makesit possible to open the left door simultaneously by the single action ofoperating the right door. It will be apparent that the right door willsimultaneously be opened it the left door is operated in the samemanner. Since the right and left doors are pivotally connected at theends thereof to one end of the side plates 15 and 15, respectively,which are pivotally connected at the other end to the partition plates17 and 17, respectively, each of the doors and each of the side platesform a sharp angle therebetween when the two doors remain open as shownin FIG. 3, so that the doors 11 and 11 are enclosed in the speakerbafile portions 13 and 13', respectively, to be housed therein. This isconductive to the elimination of trouble experienced with cabinets ofthe conventional type when the doors are kept open.

When it is desired to bring the doors to a closed state, as shown inFIG. 2, after they have been opened, as shown in FIG. 3, the knob 12 or12 is moved in the direction of arrow Y or X, a direction opposite tothe direction in which the respective knob is moved when the doors areto be opened. This causes the levers l? and 2%, as well as connectingrod 23, to operate in the manner which is reversed to the manner ofoperation as described hereinabove. It will be appreciated that thesubject device makes it possible to simultaneously open one door byoperating the other door.

It is to be understood that the embodiment described hereinabove is forillustrative purposes only and that the invention is not limitedthereto. Changes may be made therein without departing from the scopeand spirit of the invention which is defined in the appended claims. Forexample, the device of the subject invention may be mounted in the topof a cabinet, instead of in the front thereof.

What I claim is:

It. A device for opening or closing two doors simultaneously comprisinga first door, a first side plate pivoted at one end thereof at one pointand pivotally connected at the other end thereof to the outer end ofsaid first door for pivotal motion about said pivot, a first leverpivotally supported at one end thereof by the rear surface of said firstdoor for swinging motion through a certain angie about the center ofswinging motion of said lever in conjunction with the movement of saiddoor, a second door forming a pair with said first door for opening andclosing, a second side plate pivoted at one end thereof at one point andpivotally connected at the other end thereof to the outer end of saidsecond door for pivotal motion about said pivot, a second leverpivotally supported at one end thereof by the rear surface of saidsecond door for swinging motion through a certain angle about the centerof swinging motion of said lever in conjunction with the movement ofsaid door, and means for transmitting the turning force of one of saidfirst and second levers to the other in such a manner that when said onelever swings the other lever is caused to swing in the directionopposite to the direction in which said one lever swings, whereby eachof said levers causes one of said first and second doors to move in thedirection opposite to the direction in which the other of said first andsecond doors move when said the other door is opened or closed.

2. In a cabinet including a center chamber for housing an equipment forplaying records and the like and speaker baffie portions positioned onthe opposite sides of said center chamber for mounting speakers therein,a device for opening or closing two doors simultaneously comprising apair of first and second doors for covering and uncovering the apertureof said center chamber, a first lever pivotally supported at one endthereof by the rear surface of said first door for swinging motionthrough a certain angle about the center of swinging motion inconjunction with the movement of said first door, a second leverpivotally supported at one end thereof by the rear surface of saidsecond door for swinging motion through a certain angle about the centerof swinging motion of said second lever in conjunction with the movementof said second door, and means for transmitting the turning force of oneof said first and second levers to the other in such a manner that whensaid one lever swings the other lever is caused to swing in thedirection opposite to the direction in which said one lever swings, eachof said doors moving into each of said speaker bathe portions and housedtherein when the doors are opened and each of said levers being operableto move one of said doors in the direction opposite to the direction inwhich the other of said doors move when said the other door is opened orclosed.

3. In a cabinet including 'a center chamber for housing an equipment forplaying records and the like and portions for first and second speakerbafiie portions positioned on the opposite sides of said center chamberfor mounting speakers therein, a device for opening or closing two doorssimultaneously comprising a pair of first and second doors for coveringand uncovering the aperture of said center chamber, a first side platepivoted at one end thereof on a partition plate partitioning off saidcenter chamber from said first speaker bafi'le portion and pivotallyconnected at the other end thereof to the outer end of said first doorfor pivotal motion about said pivot in conjunction with the movement ofsaid first door, a first lever pivotally supported at one end thereof bythe rear surface of said first door for swinging motion through acertain angle about the center of swinging motion in conjunction withthe movement of said first door, a second side plate pivoted at one endthereof on a partition plate partitioning off said center chamber fromsaid second speaker bafile portion and pivotaily connected at the otherend thereof to the outer end of said second door for pivotal motionabout said pivot in conjunction with the movement of said second door, asecond lever pivotally supported at one end thereof by the rear surfaceof said second door for swinging motion through a certain angle aboutthe center of swinging motion of said second lever in conjunction withthe movement of said second door, and means for transmitting the turningforce of one of said first and second levers to the other in such amanner that when said one lever swings the other lever is caused toswing in the direction opposite to the direction in which said one leverswings, each of said doors moving into each of the speaker bafiieportions and housed therein when the doors are opened and each of saidlevers being operable to move one of said doors in the directionopposite to the direction in "which the other of said doors move whensaid the other door is opened or closed.

4. In a cabinet including a center chamber for housing an equipment forplaying records and the like and speaker baffie portions positioned onthe opposite sides of said center chamber for mounting speakers therein,a device for opening or closing two doors simultaneously comprising apair of first and second doors for covering and uncovering the appertureof said center chambers, a first side plate pivoted at one end thereofon a partition plate partitioning off said center chamber from saidfirst speaker bafile portion and pivotally connected at the other endthereof to the outer end of said first door for pivotal motion aboutsaid pivot in conjunction with the movement of said first door, a firstlever pivotally supported at one end thereof by the rear surface of saidfirst door for swinging motion through a certain angle about the centerof swinging motion in conjunction with the movement of said first door,said center of swinging motion of the first lever being positioned onthe other end of said first lever, a second side plate pivoted at oneend thereof on a partition plate partitioning olf said center chamberfrom said second speaker baffie portion and pivotally connected at theother end thereof to the outer end of said second door for pivotalmotion about said pivot in conjunction with the movement of said seconddoor, a second lever pivotally supported at one end thereof by the rearsurface of said second door for swinging motion through a certain angleabout the center of swinging motion of said second lever in conjunctionwith the movement of said second door, said center of swinging motion ofthe second lever being positioned between the other end thereof and saidone end at which the second lever is pivotaily supported by the seconddoor, and 'a link member pivotally supported at one end thereof by saidfirst lever at a point positioned between the center of swinging motionof said first lever and the end of said first door 3,372,965 5 6 andpivotally suppoited at the other end thereof by to the direction inwhich the other of said doors move said the other end of the secondlever for transmitting when said the other door is opened or closed. theturning force of one of said first and second levers to the other insuch a manner that when said one Refemmes Cited lever swings the otheriever is eaused to swing in the 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS directionopposite to the direction in which said one 484,121 10/1892 Stein 312275lever swings, each of said doors moving into each of 835,984 11/ 1906Rois 312275 said speaker bafiie portions and housed therein When2,598,814 6/1952 McAfee 312-475 the doors are opened and each of saidlevers being operabie to move one of said doors in the directionopposite w IAMES T. lMcCALL, Primwy Examiner.

